In the art of catalytically hydrolyzing acrylonitrile with water to acrylamide, various copper and copper containing catalysts have heretofore been proposed, such as mixtures of copper oxide with other metal oxides, reduced copper oxides/metal oxide mixtures, copper and copper/metal mixtures, Raney copper, and the like (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,597,481; 3,631,104; 3,642,894; 3,767,707; and 3,642,643; German Pat. No. 2,036,126; German D.O.S. 2,164,185; Canadian Pat. No. 899,380; and Japanese Publication 69/5205).
One of us is a coinventor in U.S. Pat. No. 3,920,740 which relates to an improved process for making acrylamide from a composition of acrylonitrile and water utilizing an improved Raney copper catalyst which contains from about 2 to 45 weight percent of aluminum on a 100 weight percent total weight basis which catalyst is preferably prepared under low temperature and/or slow caustic addition conditions from a copper/aluminum alloy. The hydrolysis process can be practiced continuously. See also U.S. Pat. No. 4,000,195.
Similarly, one of us is named as a coinventor in U.S. Pat. No. 3,894,084 which relates to a process for catalytically hydrolyzing acrylonitrile to acrylamide in a reactor containing water and a copper catalyst suspended therein with agitation. Acrylonitrile is added incrementally to the reactor after which it is held for an additional period in the reactor. Thereafter, agitation is stopped, the catalyst falls to the bottom of the reactor, and an acrylamide solution is decanted off the top of the reactor.
So far as in known, copper/zinc alloys have never previously been found to be activatable with sodium hydroxide for the preparation of catalysts, and, likewise so far as is known, such a catalyst so prepared has never previously been utilized for hydrating acrylonitrile to acrylamide.